PAY IT FORWARD

Have you heard of *Pay It Forward*? It is a great way to get a little gift, but give more forward. I signed up at Terry's Life, and now I get to invite you to join in on the fun! Here's the fine print:

1. The first 3 people to visit my blog and leave a comment saying they want to participate will receive a handmade gift from me, within the next year... (Probably much sooner than that, but you are suppose give everyone a year, because sometimes life gets in the way!)

2. You MUST have a blog of your own to to participate in the PIF.

3. You must post about the PIF on your blog & offer the PIF challenge on your blog.

By accepting the Pay It Forward challenge, YOU agree to host a Pay It Forward to the first 3 people who sign up on your blog...you will then carry on the PIF by sending them a homemade gift within a year's time, and so it goes :)

I hope you will sign up, it really is so much fun to Pay It Forward!!! :o

LIBERATED LOGS PROGRESS

Wow! Thanks for the comments. Someone on Block Lotto even called them Picasso 'ish and Cube' ist. High compliments for simple Liberated Logs from Block Lotto! Maybe I'll name this quilt 'South Beach'.

In the original rules for each block, you had to stick with the blue/green/purple color palette, but you also had to include a black and white or a black and a white. Other colors could be in there, but not dominate. There's a blatant red start to one of my blocks. So sassy! She doesn't belong, but I love her spunk! Also half the blocks had to tilt upward and half downward.

After taking comments into consideration, I decided to use sashing and not to use sashing. I didn't want to lose the up-angle and down-angle of the blocks, so I decided to group them in sets of four. Then I'm sashing those in Kona black and using a perky white/blue/lime print for the cornerstones. Now that leaves purple out, so I do think the border may need to be purple. We'll see.

Shown is my first row. All the rest are sewn in sets of four, awaiting their sashing and cornerstones. More progress tomorrow, God willing, and the creek don't rise.

I WON THE BLOCK LOTTO

I started playing The Block Lotto in Dec. and was one of the lucky winners in March. All of my Liberated Log Cabin blocks have arrived now, 49 in total. Do you have any suggestions for them? Maybe sew them together as is? Maybe sash them in navy or black? Maybe use 4 for each side of fun tote bags? Any suggestions at all are most appreciated.

WORKING OUTSIDE ON THE LANAI

I'm back working outside today, but without Jack, the Ripper, this time! Today I stamped spool blocks, using my Cindy Blackberg stamp, and now I'm outside cutting them out. I haven't cut out templates using scissors since rotary cutters came out. How long ago is that? 20 years? 30 years? I feel like a pioneer woman with my sewing basket, sitting outside, cutting my pieces with scissors. It's very relaxing and feels like getting back to our roots.

Here's a peak inside the basket. It is perfect for klosje work! It has 4 compartments. One for each part of the spool block and one for tools. This is one of those Longaberger Baskets that I 'just had to have' years ago, and never found the perfect use for. Now I know why I had to have it, LOL!



My dogs keep wandering by and are in the picture. They are practicing their 'catching flying insects mid-air' skills today. I don't think they're getting many and have resorted to sniffing the ground.

KLOSJES SATURDAY

Have you heard of the klosje craze? It started in Holland, spread through Europe, and now is across the pond to the USA. Klosjes are tiny spool blocks and are hand-pieced. Traditionally they are made on Saturday, so I started today. Now I have no idea why klosjes are made on Saturdays, but I can only imagine, because it was frugal to use up those tiny scraps from the week's sewing on Saturday. But that is just my personal guess.

If you google "klosje" you'll find many blogs, etc., where they are being talked about.

There are many tiny spool patterns and you can, of course, draft your own. I'm using a Cindy Blackberg stamp set for my pattern. You stamp the back of the fabric with Versa Craft ink, and then cut on the cutting line, and stitch on the seam line. I've only made one, but it went together in a flash. I have pulled tiny scraps from the scrap basket to stamp and cut. I rarely throw away any scrap over an inch square, so I have lots of tiny pieces to work with. My DH often comments how itty bitty my pieces are in the waste basket in my sewing studio.

Even though DGD, Brianne, culled through my scrap basket this morning, and took a nice lot home with her, I still have plenty to work with.
Here's my first klosje. It is made from leftover print from the Friendship Swap, and black from the Amish Swap. My klosjes finish at 2 3/4". I think this will make a fantastic take-along project, Saturday, or not.

IN THE PINK

Oh my goodness! Esther Ailu just launched a new, free, BOM, In The Pink (ITP). It is gorgeous! Those of you who love pink like I do, will be in heaven! Others, put on your thinking caps, and come up with your own palette for this quilt. It is drop-dead gorgeous, if you love applique on a pieced quilt. Oooh, La, La..............

I've added a link to this BOM, scroll down, on the left, where I'm collecting free BOMs.

4 PAWS FOR THE CAUSE

Yes, that's me behind that quilt! It is for a charity event, 4 Paws for a Cause, that is being organized by one of my good friends. It really is a precursor to the Relay for Life event. But as my friend points out, our 4-legged friends give comfort too, and they also suffer cancer sometimes. This event is a dog walk, and my quilt will be one of the auction items.

Here's my dog, Murphy, giving the quilt her vote of approval. She thinks we should keep it, but it is going to the auction.

MR. JACK

My Hearth and Home blocks are progressing nicely. No more early morning coffee meetings with Mr. Jack (the Ripper) on the lanai! The goal is to have these blocks in the mail by the end of the month.

TIME ON THE LANAI

It's not even 9 a.m. and already I'm spending time on the lanai with Jack (the ripper). Hope this isn't a sign of how the day is going to go!

LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE BLOCKS

Today I finished my 12 Little Red School House blocks for the Sarah's Sampler swap. Sarah's Sampler is from the Elm Creek Quilt Series. It is in the very first book, The Quilter's Apprentice, and is the selection of blocks Sarah chose to use for her first quilting lessons with Sylvia. That was way back when Jennifer planned to have a simple series, starting with The Quilter's Apprentice, and ending with The Master Quilter. But there's been many more books than that, as Elm Creek has taken on a life of its own, thanks to talented author, Jennifer Chiaverini.

Here's all my blocks and the three different color combinations I used. No, they are not red. In this swap all blocks are a combination of brown, tan, and blue. Yes, there's blue in there in the sky.

And here is one of my labels.

This has been a fun swap, but I cut it too close to the wire, as the blocks are due to the hostess by the end of the month. And this is one of the hardest school house patterns I've seen, as everything is just a tad different size. Many different cuts, and four templates later, I'm satisfied.

AMISH SWAP ARRIVES

17 Amish Swap blocks arrived today in my mail box! What a great mix of colors. Any ideas how to set them or what to do with them? I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm so thankful to all the participants in theis swap. By the way, the red churn dash is mine.

SBS BOW

This week's Sylvia's Bridal Sampler is B-10, Friendship Star. This block is so simple and so traditional. I love it!

THE ALOHA QUILT

Look what the cute guy in brown shorts brought to my door yesterday -- The Aloha Quilt, the newest in Jennifer's Elm Creek Series, which I had preordered from Amazon. Can't wait to curl up and read.

DEAR JANE SIGGIES

This morning I finished my 67 Siggies for the Dear Jane 2010 Siggie Swap. Above the photo is cropped to show how they will look when trimmed. But we don't trim them up. Each receiver does it. We make them over-sized and the receivers trim to 4 1/2", thereby avoiding the problem of too small blocks, common in swaps. The photo below shows my 7 stacks of 10 each. There's 3 extra's because I work in 10's, but those will be used in the International Siggy Swap. Four blocks are flower print and the rest are spools, in two different fabrics. I also mixed up the ink color for my spool stamp, and some have pale pink fabric for the center and others are off-white -- just to keep it interesting.

SECRET SISTER GIFT

My Dear Jane Secret Sister gift for April arrived in today's mail. She's teaching a course on repurposing jeans and t-shirts and made the ball of 'yarn' from the t-shirt, and the jeans are on the bottom and handles of the basket she made me. How clever! She also made me another little DJ block. There's a Luna Bar and tea to snack on, lotion, and an herb mix too. Plus that yummy FQ it's all sitting on. I think I have the very best secret pal this year!!!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

Just in time for Easter, Prim Bunny now has a name, Plaids, eggs in her basket, and a chocolate carrot in her pocket. Her shoulder straps also got a trim. She is ready for the Easter Parade!

HEART FOR A DEAR FRIEND

My dear friend Mary Anne's (from SBS, DJ, and my small block swap group) husband suffered a major cardio-pulmonary event last week. Our little group is sending off 6" hearts to her. Bob was in WWII and has had asbestos exposure issues ever since. I'm so proud of our military and all that they sacrifice for us. I know Mary Anne and Bob are very close. Mary Anne is also very close to her quilting community members, so I know she'll find some comfort and support in these blocks.